Four Springfield men were arrested and charged with pistol-whipping a man on Chapel Street and stealing his cash, cell phone and car keys, police said.

These were the most read stories on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now.

1) Westfield State University President Evan Dobelle eyes whistle-blower protection in controversy over travel expenses [Jack Flynn] Photo above.

2) South Hadley Fire Department: 2 people hospitalized after motorcycle collides with car on Route 202 [Conor Berry]

3) 4 Springfield men charged with robbing, pistol-whipping man in Old Hill neighborhood [Patrick Johnson]

4) Bold bobcat has some in Northampton concerned [Associated Press]

5) New Hampshire driver arraigned in crash that killed two Massachusetts cyclists [Associated Press]

A survey of 555 likely Democratic primary voters in the district, conducted by Public Policy Polling, determined that Sciortino's support jumped from 5 percent among voters who had not seen the ad to 29 percent among people who did see it.

Ever since liberal 5th Congressional District candidate Carl Sciortino's TV ad featuring his Tea Party Republican father began airing in the Boston area and hit the Internet, it has kept people talking.

Well outside the Eastern Massachusetts district represented by Democrat Ed Markey for 37 years, the ad, which features openly-gay Sciortino "coming out" as a liberal Democrat, has been buzzed about. And internal polling conducted on behalf of the Sciortino campaign is showing that among voters in the district who've seen the ad, he is considered the Democratic frontrunner.

A survey of 555 likely Democratic primary voters in the district, conducted by Public Policy Polling, determined that Sciortino's support jumped from 5 percent among voters who had not seen the ad to 29 percent among people who did see it.

"There is a clear path to victory for Carl Sciortino," said Stephanie Taylor, Progressive Change Campaign Committee co-founder in a statement. "Every time this ad airs, and people see that Carl is the bold progressive in this race, his support grows. For grassroots progressives, it's clear that every penny donated at CarlForCongress.com to help air this ad will move him a giant step closer to victory."

Sciortino has served in the Massachusetts Legislature since 2004 and was one of the first Democrats to declare his candidacy for the seat back in February, well before Markey had become the state's junior U.S. senator.

The PCCC endorsed Sciortino over his rivals, co-sponsored the new poll along with the People For the American Way, and raised money on his behalf to keep the ad in heavy rotation throughout the expensive Boston TV market.

The poll, conducted from Sept. 22-23 with a 4.2 percent margin of error, concluded a day before the Sciortino campaign reportedly boosted its TV runs ten-fold, according to the PCCC. Support for other candidates who have also seen Sciortino's ad include state Sen. Katherine Clark, 20 percent; state Sen. Karen Spikla, 12 percent; state Sen. Will Brownsberger, 10 percent; and Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, 9 percent. Not tallied in the Democratic poll are Republican candidates Mike Stopa, a physicist, attorney Frank Addivinola and veteran Tom Tierney.

The PCCC has proven to be a powerful force in past Massachusetts elections. The group raised more than $1 million from its members for Democrat Elizabeth Warren’s successful 2012 U.S. Senate campaign. It was less involved in Democrat Edward Markey’s 2013 U.S. Senate campaign but still raised $35,000 for him. The group, which says it has 33,000 Massachusetts members, held an online debate with five of the 5th District Democratic candidates last month.

The mayor will talk about steps to market the city and hopes to be joined by the police and public works chiefs.

Holyoke Mayor Alex B. Morsesubmitted photo 

HOLYOKE -- Mayor Alex B. Morse will discuss city finances and upcoming projects at the Oct. 9 meeting of the Ward 7 Neighborhood Watch.

The meeting is 7 to 8 p.m. at the Marian Center's DeCice Hall, 1365 Northampton St., a press release said.

Morse said Wednesday he will discuss efforts to market the city and hopes to be joined by Police Chief James M. Neiswanger and William D. Fuqua, general superintendent of the Department of Public Works, at the meeting.

Most of the seven wards have neighborhood watch meetings in which residents and business owners gather to discuss crime and other issues, often joined by police and other officials.

Investigators have yet to find any obvious or apparent reason why Madison fled police.

 

WESTFIELD -- Investigators have identified a man who died of injuries sustained in a Shaker Road car crash Thursday morning following a lengthy police pursuit as 43-year-old Glenn Madison of Chicopee.

Investigators, still probing the crash, have yet to find any obvious or apparent reason why Madison fled police, according to the Hampden District Attorney’s office.

According to state police, Madison's 2003 Honda Civic had an expired registration and Madison had a revoked license.

Madison was thrown from his car when it struck a utility pole on Shaker Road.The impact sheered the pole in two and caused the car to roll over.

He was pronounced dead at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

State police spokesman Lt. Daniel Richard said the chase involved two separate pursuits. One began in Westfield and involved a state police trooper; the other began in Southwick and ended with the crash in Westfield, involving police from those two communities.

The first pursuit began on East Silver Street at about 7 a.m., Richard said. A state trooper assigned to the Russell barracks attempted to pull over a vehicle for an undisclosed violation, but the car sped away from the scene.

The trooper pursued but the chase was eventually called off by the barracks commander in Russell in the interest of public safety, Richard said.

About 25 minutes later, a Southwick police officer spotted the same vehicle and attempted to stop it, but it again sped off with police in pursuit, he said.

The chase crossed back over into Westfield, with Westfield police joining in pursuit. The crash was reported at about 7:35 a.m., Richard said.

State police were not involved in the pursuit from Southwick back to Westfield, he said.

The accident is being investigated by state police attached to the Hampden District Attorney, state police out of the Russell barracks and the state police collision analysis and reconstruction section.

The party-line, 54-44 vote clears the last obstacle to Senate approval of a measures aimed at preventing a government shutdown on Tuesday.

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, and House GOP leaders, speak to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013, after a closed-door strategy session. Pressure is building on fractious Republicans over legislation to prevent a partial government shutdown, as the Democratic-led Senate is expected to strip a tea party-backed plan to defund the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as "Obamacare," from their bill. Speaker Boehner originally preferred a plan to deliver to President Obama a stopgap funding bill without the provision to eliminate the health care law. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)AP 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic-led Senate has blocked an effort to strip money from the president's health care law.

The party-line, 54-44 vote clears the last obstacle to Senate approval of a measures aimed at preventing a government shutdown on Tuesday.

The Republican-run House had included the Obamacare language in its version of the shutdown bill at the insistence of conservatives.

A small group of Senate conservatives tried but failed to stop the Senate from considering the bill. They argued their strategy would have kept Democrats from removing the Obamacare provision.

Still unclear is whether Congress will approve legislation preventing a shutdown by Tuesday.

House GOP leaders have yet to determine how to win enough conservative support to pass a new bill.

Attorneys for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev are formally asking a federal judge for more time to prepare arguments that their client shouldn't be subject to the death penalty.

FILE - This file photo released Friday, April 19, 2013 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings. Lawyers for Tsarnaev will ask a judge to address the death penalty protocol during a status conference in federal court Monday, Sept. 23, 2013, in Boston. Tsarnaev is accused in two bombings that killed three people and injured more than 260 others near the finish line of the April 15 marathon. (AP Photo/Federal Bureau of Investigation, File)AP 

BOB SALSBERG, Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — Attorneys for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev are formally asking a federal judge for more time to prepare arguments that their client shouldn't be subject to the death penalty.

In a brief filed Friday with the U.S. District Court in Boston, Tsarnaev's lawyers say the current Oct. 24 deadline doesn't allow for a "reasonable opportunity" to make their case.

Twin bombings at the April 15 marathon killed three people and injured more than 260.

Federal prosecutors have said they plan to make a recommendation about whether to pursue the death penalty to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder by the end of the month. Holder will make the final decision.

Prosecutors said at a recent hearing that they believe the defense has had ample time to respond.

The $3.85 million grant from the Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement is aimed at helping give a boost to the city's magnet schools.

The Springfield school district is getting a cash infusion for its magnet school program, thanks to a new Department of Education grant announced on Friday.

The $3.85 million grant from the Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement is aimed at helping give a boost to the city's magnet schools. As the state explains it, magnet schools are public schools that focus on a particular theme, such as arts, science or technology. Magnet schools accept children who live in the school's neighborhood, as well as children from outside the neighborhood.

While the local school district applied for the grant earlier this year, its efforts were supported by former mayor and longtime Democratic Congressman Richard Neal, and the commonwealth's two Democratic senators, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey.

"I have been in the classrooms of Springfield's magnet schools and seen the difference they make in students' lives. Some of the city's most successful and diverse public schools are magnet schools," Neal said in a statement. "They are laboratories of learning that give parents an opportunity to decide what school is best for their child. This important grant will allow them to continue their extraordinary work."

Warren, who has an office in Springfield, said the grant announcement was exciting news for the district.

"I applaud Superintendent (Daniel) Warwick, Magnet Director (Joshua) Bogin and SPS's teachers and staff for their efforts to secure this grant," Warren said in a statement. "This award reflects SPS's ongoing commitment to making sure all students in Springfield have the tools and skills they need to succeed."

Markey added, "Massachusetts is a national education leader, and Springfield is helping to lead the way. This important funding will allow the Springfield Public Schools to provide challenging academic content for students of different backgrounds and increase student academic achievement in math, science and technology classes."

But now the goal is to use the document to leverage more visibility, and business, for other area tourism offerings.

SPRINGFIELD - Nearly 800 years ago, the Magna Carta introduced the concept of limited government and started the ball rolling toward democracy as we know it today .

A year from now, tourism boosters across Western Massachusetts hope a copy of that storied document will bring visitors to the region who will also be drawn to area attractions from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the Big E.

The Magna Carta's 800th anniversary is coming up in 2015, and the British committee charged with celebrating the milestone is sending one of four original copies to Massachusetts next year. It'll be on display both at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and, in August and all of September, at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, said state Rep. Cory Atkins, D-Concord.

As co-chairwoman of the Joint Committee on Tourism and The Arts, she led a committee hearing and listening session at the Basketball Hall of Fame Friday. She's just returned from England where she learned more about the Magna Carta visit.

"It's the most exciting thing I've ever been a part of," she said.

The hearing was organized by the Greater Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau, held at the Hall of Fame and included a trip to the Big E for the final Friday of the fair.

But now the goal is to use the document to leverage more visibility, and business, for other area tourism offerings.

"Visit the Clark, but also go to all these other things we have to offer, and stay here and eat here," she said.

Tourism is the state's third-largest, revenue-producing industry, with a $3.6 billion payroll and a total of 124,700 jobs. In 2011, 21.3 million people visited Massachusetts and spent $16.9 billion, according to the state.

"It's the circle of tourism life," said Michael E. Hurwitz, chairman of the board of the Visitors Bureau and owner of Uno Chicago Grill and Sonic franchises in the area. "More people visit, so more people have jobs in the attractions and restaurants, so those people spend money. Some of that money is spent in the restaurants and attractions. The circle continues."

And business has been good, Hurwitz said. He sees an improving economy and good weather has people out and about. The visitors bureau helps by promoting the region to outsiders, bringing in money to get that wheel turning

The visitors bureau is receiving $360,000 in state money for fiscal year 2014, said Mary Kay Wydra, president of the bureau. That includes $50,000 for a new effort to boost sporting events in the region. It's also up from $250,000 a year ago, she said. The state is restoring funding cut in the aftermath of the recession.

"The main thing is we spend it out of market," Wydra said, citing billboards in Boston and Hartford touting the upcoming Springfield zombie walk Oct.19.

The company says it will recognize "all legal marriages" when it determines eligibility for health care plans for the company's 77,000 employees and retirees in the U.S.

A July 29, 2010 file photo of customers filling up at a Mobil service station in Berlin, Vt. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot) AP 

JONATHAN FAHEY, AP Energy Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Exxon says it will begin offering benefits to legally married same-sex couples in the U.S. for the first time as of Oct. 1.

The company says it will recognize "all legal marriages" when it determines eligibility for health care plans for the company's 77,000 employees and retirees in the U.S.

That means if a gay employee has been married in a state or country where gay marriage is legal, his or her spouse will be eligible for benefits with Exxon starting next year.

Exxon Mobil Corp., which is facing a same-sex discrimination lawsuit in Illinois, said Friday it was following the lead of the U.S. government. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, which allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages granted in other states. And in recent months, federal agencies have begun to offer benefits to legally-married same sex couples.

"We haven't changed our eligibility criteria. It has always been to follow the federal definition and it will continue to follow the federal definition," said Exxon spokesman Alan Jeffers in an interview.

The new building, which features 70 traditional assisted living units and 20 units dedicated to seniors suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s, will give people two of the three main options for senior living.

NORTHAMPTON – Shovel in hand, Mayor David J. Narkewicz put a bit of sweat equity into a project he endorsed verbally Friday, helping to break ground on a 90-unit senior care facility at Linda Manor.

“One of my favorite parts of this job is digging dirt, cutting ribbons and promoting economic development for Northampton,” Narkewicz said at a small ceremony prior to the ground-breaking.

The mayor expressed enthusiasm about the 50-some jobs the new $16 million facility is expected to generate. It will also add to the city’s already substantial stock of housing for seniors. Chakalos Investments, which is building the facility, owns the adjacent Linda Manor Extended Care Facility, a 122-bed nursing home off Route 9. Another company is planning to build an 83-unit assisted care facility on Village Hill.

Linda Manor has been at its current location since 1989. The new building, which features 70 traditional assisted living units and 20 units dedicated to seniors suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s, will give people two of the three main options for senior living at one location. The other is independent living, for people who need no assistance. There are several of those complexes in Northampton as well.

Developer John Chakalos cited the three models in his brief remarks to the crowd. Chakalos said the wealth of such facilities in Northampton gives people a complete menu of choices. Narkewicz agreed.

“These are the kinds of services for families that want options,” he said.

William Jones, the president of Berkshire Healthcare, which manages Linda Manor and 13 other facilities for seniors, noted that Linda Manor has earned a reputation as a top-notch nursing home in its 24 years in Northampton.

“As this building goes up, I’m reminded of the time we’ve spent here in Northampton,” he said.

The actual ground-breaking was somewhat anti-climactic since construction actually began this summer. Officials said they expect the new building to be on line by the fall of 2014.

Northampton Planning Board members discussed requirements for the store’s outer appearance, traffic generation and energy use.

Northampton's City Seal, which reads "caritas, educatio, justitia," or "Caring, Education, and Justice."City of Northampton 

The Northampton Planning Board held an informal discussion Thursday night about regulations for potential medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.

Topics discussed included requirements for the store’s outer appearance, traffic generation and energy use. Because dispensaries will require a higher level of security, there was concern about whether the dispensary would be an eyesore amid the attractive downtown stores.

“I am worried about the security, like big cameras moving back and forth, big fences. Banks are a good example – you can do great security and not be ugly,” said Wayne Feiden, director of planning and sustainability. “We want it to look like a bank and not a pawn shop.”

The members also discussed dispensaries' high electricity use. Because security issues prohibit the marijuana from being grown in a traditional greenhouse that uses sunlight, Feiden proposed that the companies pay a 50-percent mitigation fee to the city.

However, other board members felt this number was arbitrary and unfair.

“In the case of traffic mitigation, we’re asking them to help us as a city drive services. We’re responsible for roads and traffic,” responded board member Debin Bruce. “I don’t feel like we’re a utility provider.”

“I don’t know if it tastes funny or not to charge 50-percent just because we can,” Chair of the Planning Board Mark Sullivan said. “We shouldn’t take advantage of that situation.”

The board ultimately decided that an ordinance should move forward but they wanted to see more research done, particularly on the energy portion.

The ordinance also included the following new approval criteria for dispensaries: marijuana can be sold only between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.; the marijuana itself may not be visible to the public from the outside of the business; and buildings must be ventilated to reduce odors and “prevent public exposure to any pesticides, herbicides or other chemicals.” For the full list of criteria, see below.

The next step is to formally introduce the ordinance to City Council, where it will then be referred to a Council Ordinance Committee and Planning Board for a public hearing before it comes back for a final vote.

There are currently five contenders to open medical marijuana dispensaries in Hampshire County.

Medical Marijuana Northampton Proposed Zoning 9-24-13[1]

As former Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown continues to agitate Democrats by hinting at various potential political runs, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who defeated him in November, is keeping an eye on the Wrentham Republican.

As former Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown continues to agitate Democrats by hinting at various potential political runs, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who defeated him in November, is keeping an eye on the Wrentham Republican.

In a fundraising pitch sent to her supporters on Friday, Warren's campaign manager and current chief of staff Mindy Myers passed along a message from U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D- N.H., who Brown has threatened to run against since he owns a home in New Hampshire. Myers also threw in her own jab at Brown, vowing to help defeat him should he attempt such a campaign.

"Believe it or not, our old friend Scott Brown is considering a move north to New Hampshire to run against Senator Shaheen in 2014," Myers writes. "With your help, we beat Scott Brown and elected Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts. Let's show Scott Brown: If he decides to run against Jeanne Shaheen, we'll be there once again to stop him."

A Public Policy Polling survey released last week showed Shaheen winning over Brown by only four points in a hypothetical 2014 Senate campaign match-up. In her fundraising pitch, Shaheen points to the record amount of money spent in the infamous 2012 Brown-Warren campaign, specifically noting Brown's fundraising prowess.

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. 

"Brown and his funders spent $40 million attacking Sen. Warren. If they run here, all signs point to a repeat of that kind of spending," Shaheen wrote. We need to take a big step forward in our effort to build the strongest grassroots campaign New Hampshire’s ever seen. Whether the Republicans ultimately nominate Brown or state Sen. Jim Rubens, who recently announced, we have to be ready."

Warren's latest campaign dispatch on behalf of Shaheen is the third of such efforts this week, as she extended her political star power on behalf of Democrats including Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina. and Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon.

Since losing his U.S. Senate seat to Democrat Elizabeth Warren in November, Brown has taken a gig as an on-air contributor for Fox News; joined the Kadant paper company board of directors; joined the Nixon Peabody law firm in Boston; joined CoachUp, a Boston-based company that helps connect private coaches with kids, as a senior adviser; and most recently took a position as co-chair of the Bipartisan Coalition for American Security. This week, he also joined the Florida-based Global Digital Solutions, Inc. as a consultant.

As far as politics are concerned, Brown has kept his name in circulation and his options open for the future. Brown declined to run for governor of Massachusetts in the 2014 election, and he is instead supporting 2010 GOP gubernatorial nominee Charlie Baker. Brown told reporters at an April event in Nashua, N.H., that he isn't ruling out a run for the U.S. Senate in that state.

Brown, who was recently testing the waters in Iowa for a future presidential run, will return to the state on Nov. 12 as the keynote speaker for a GOP organization's annual Ronald Reagan Dinner. Closer to home, Brown will give the keynote address at the Connecticut Republican Chairman’s Dinner on October 2nd in Norwalk, Conn.

The world's chemical weapons watchdog was preparing Friday to launch a risky United Nations-backed mission into the heart of Syria's deadly civil war to verify and destroy the country's chemical arsenal in a matter of months.

MIKE CORDER, Associated Press

President of the Opposition Syrian Coalition, Ahmad Jarba, left, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, center, and American Secretary of State John Kerry attend a Ministerial Meeting of the Group of Friends of the Syrian people, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013 at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)AP 

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The risks inspectors will face were underscored when a car bomb exploded outside a mosque north of Damascus, killing at least 30 people, the latest victims of a civil war which has claimed more than 100,000 lives and driven another 7 million — around a third of the country's pre-war population — from their homes since March 2011.

Law experts, meanwhile, said discussions were underway to set up a war crimes tribunal for Syria to punish perpetrators from all sides of atrocities.

A late-night meeting at the Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was expected to approve a plan to rid Syria's regime of its estimated 1,000-ton chemical arsenal by mid-2014, significantly accelerating a destruction timetable that often takes years to complete.

The United Nations Security Council also was meeting Friday night in New York to discuss Syria and vote on a resolution to destroy Syria's chemical weapons that will underpin the OPCW plan.

The draft agreed upon Thursday by Russia, China, the United States, France and Britain includes two legally binding demands — that Syria abandon its chemical stockpile and allow unfettered access to the chemical-weapons experts.

If Syria fails to comply, the draft says, the Security Council would need to adopt a second resolution to impose possible military and other actions on Damascus under Chapter 7 of the U.N. charter.

President Barack Obama called the Security Council deal "potentially a huge victory for the international community."

The agreement shaping up for approval Friday represents a breakthrough after 2½ years of paralysis in a deeply divided Security Council.

Diplomatic efforts to find some agreement on Syria gathered momentum in the aftermath of an Aug. 21 poison gas attack that killed hundreds of civilians in a Damascus suburb and Obama's subsequent threat to use military force.

The U.S. and Russia agree that Syria has roughly 1,000 metric tons of chemical weapons agents and precursors, including blister agents such as sulfur and mustard gas and nerve agents like sarin.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the U.N. Friday that progress in Syrian chemical disarmament "should give an impetus to" moves to establish a zone "free of weapons of mass destruction and means of their delivery in the Middle East."

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the U.N. General Assembly he hoped the Security Council resolution would be adopted "to support the OPCW in launching the verification and destruction of chemical weapons" in Syria. He said China was prepared to help fund the disarmament mission.

A draft of the OPCW decision obtained by The Associated Press calls for the first inspectors to be in Syria by Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a group of U.N. inspectors already in Syria investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons said Friday they are probing a total of seven suspected attacks, including in the Damascus suburb where hundreds were killed last month. That number was raised from three sites previously.

Attacks with conventional and makeshift weapons continued unabated.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group that monitors the civil war, said a car bomb struck as worshippers were leaving the al-Sahel mosque after Friday prayers in Rankous, 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Damascus.

Residents quickly held funerals for some of the bombing victims in line with Islamic tradition of quickly burying the dead. At one funeral, several rockets fired by government troops fell nearby, wounding some of the mourners, activist Mohammed Saeed said.

Car bombs, shelling and airstrikes have become common in Syria's civil war, heavily damaging cities and Syria's social fabric as the conflict has taken on increasingly dark sectarian overtones that pit a primarily Sunni Muslim rebel movement against a regime dominated by Assad's Alawite sect.

The unrelenting violence led a group of international law experts to call for the creation of a war crimes court in Damascus to try top-ranking Syrian politicians, soldiers or rebels when the civil war ends.

Professor Michael Scharf of Case Western Reserve University told The Associated Press that draft statutes for such a court have been quietly under development for nearly two years.

Scharf said the group is going public now to push the issue of accountability for war crimes in Syria in hopes that will deter combatants from committing further atrocities.

Syria is not a party to the International Criminal Court — the permanent war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands — so the ICC has no jurisdiction over crimes there unless the court is referred to it by the Security Council. Russia would almost certainly block such a move in the case of Syria, and diplomats said Moscow had blocked references to the ICC from the draft Security Council resolution.

The OPCW destruction plan calls on Syria to give inspectors unfettered access to any site suspected of chemical weapons involvement, even if Syria's government did not identify the location. That gives the inspectors unusually broad authority.

Once the plan is approved, it gives Damascus a week to provide detailed information on its arsenal, including the name and quantity of all chemicals in its stockpile; the type and quantity of munitions that can be used to fire chemical weapons; and the location of weapons, storage facilities and production facilities. All chemical weapons production and mixing equipment should be destroyed no later than Nov. 1.

In an indication of the enormity of the task ahead, the OPCW also appealed for donations to fund the disarmament, saying it will have to hire new weapons inspectors and chemical experts.

In Geneva, the U.N.'s top human rights body on Friday condemned what it called "systematic and widespread" rights violations by Syrian government forces.

The Human Rights Council, meeting in Geneva, voted 40-1 with six abstentions to approve a resolution condemning "continued gross, systematic and widespread violations of human rights ... by the Syrian authorities and affiliated militias" and "any human rights abuses" by opposition groups.

___

Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer and Matthew Lee at the United Nations, Toby Sterling in Amsterdam and Albert Aji in Damascus contributed to this report.

A New Hampshire woman accused of hitting a 3-year-old boy while under the influence of drugs was held on $10,000 bail.

Gov. Deval Patrick said there has to be accountability regarding issues raised about the travel expenses of Westfield State University President Evan Dobelle

09.18.2013 | SPRINGFIELD -- Westfield State University President Evan Dobelle, during an interview at the offices of The Republican.Greg Saulmon / The Republican 

Gov. Deval Patrick, during a Springfield visit on Friday, said Westfield State University President Evan Dobelle needs to provide some thorough answers in response to concerns and questions regarding his travel expenses.

“It’s concerning,” Patrick said, while visiting Alfred G. Zanetti Montessori School in Springfield. “There are a number of questions that have not been adequately answered.”

Asked if Dobelle should remain as college president, Patrick said “it is only fair to give people an opportunity to answer questions and to make decisions on the basis of fact.”

In late August, the university's auditing firm found that the president and top university officials violated travel and credit card policies on trips to London, Vienna, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Miami Beach, and other national and international locations.

“I know the commissioner and Board of Higher Education are following up,” Patrick said. “I know (Dobelle) has done some wonderful things at Westfield State in and on the campus, and together with the town. But there has to be accountability for the spending and I think the Westfield State board get that, and I know there have been some follow-up questions which need to be taken seriously by President Dobelle and need to be answered thoroughly.”

Two girls, ages 12 and 14, reported being approached by a strange man in a van who invited one of them to get inside.

Republican photo 

LUDLOW - Police on Friday issued an alert to the community about an attempted abduction of two young girls on Center Street that was reported four days earlier.

According to police, the two girls, ages 12 and 14, reported on Monday that they were approached by a stranger in a van who invited one of them to get inside. When she refused, the man was said to offer her some candy, and when she still refused, he said “Whatever,” and drove away, police said.

Neither girl was injured.

The van was described as black with tinted windows. The operator was described as white with dark brown hair and a light beard. He was wearing a black shirt with no collar, police said.

The incident is said to have taken place on Center Street between Rood and Church streets at about 6:30 p.m. on Monday.

According to the girls, the van approached from the south on Center Street, drove past them and made a U-turn before approaching them. The van was last scene driving off heading south on Center Street.

Police are asking that anyone who was in the vicinity at that time and may have witnessed the encounter or who has any information about the van or driver to contact the police at (413) 583-8305.

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Worcester is in line to get a new baseball franchise, but not one of the professional variety.

Worcester could be in line to get a new baseball franchise, with local officials touting an "exciting" Monday announcement.

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports, citing unnamed league and college sources, the Futures Collegiate Baseball League will put a franchise in the College of the Holy Cross's Hanover Insurance Park in 2014.

The Futures Collegiate Baseball League is a group of teams featuring college players from New England hoping to attract attention from Major League Baseball teams. The league's nine teams include squads based in Leominster, Brockton and Lynn.

Worcester has been without summer baseball since the Can-Am League Worcester Tornadoes folded last year. Since then, officials have been working to get a new team to locate to Holy Cross, without success for 2013.

Officials at Holy Cross -- where the Tornadoes played home games for eight seasons ending in 2012 -- on Friday were touting an "exciting new baseball partnership," according to Worcester Magazine.

No one is talking, of course, but the media are being teased by a young lady going around on Friday and leaving a printed media alert stapled to a bag of Cracker Jack on reporters' desks. The over-sized postcard says only that the college and the city will make an announcement concerning baseball at 11 a.m. College President Rev. Philip Boroughs, City Manager Mike O'Brien and Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tim Murray are expected to be on-hand.

The Tornadoes folded mid-season in 2012, when the team, beset by creditors, were kicked out of the Cam-Am League and folded.

Gov. Deval Patrick said the rise of Zanetti Montessori School from Level 4 to Level 1 academic status serves as a model for other troubling schools in the state.

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Deval L. Patrick visited the Alfred G. Zanetti Montessori School on Friday, praising the “extraordinary” effort by the students, staff and administrators in rising from an underperforming school to the top level of the academic scale.

“That is a testament to the extraordinary hard work of the young people, the engagement of their families, the tremendous leadership from the principal and the superintendent, and all of the members of the faculty,” Patrick said following a school tour and meeting with students and staff. “I am fired up as a result of it, and confident of even greater things to come.”

Zanetti, as a result of a three-year turnaround strategy, was recently elevated from Level 4 status (underperforming), to Level 1, the top scale, by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Patrick said Zanetti can serve as model for other struggling schools in the state.

His tour included stops in several classrooms, and watching the chorus sing and dance to two songs.

Principal Tara Christian Clark, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, Superintendent of Schools Daniel J. Warwick, and School Committee members Peter Murphy and Antonette Pepe were among the officials and staff that accompanied Patrick on the tour.

Sarno said that Zanetti’s recovery was a partnership of teachers, administrators, parents and children.

More details coming on MassLive and in The Republican.

Critics said the tax was too broad and confusing and would apply to virtually any business that upgraded software.

BOSTON -- Gov. Deval Patrick on Friday signed a bill to repeal the new sales tax on computer services, officially killing a levy that had caused an uproar among business and technology leaders.

The speedy bill signing was first announced on Twitter, which was used by people to generate opposition to the tax shortly before it took effect on July 31. Patrick signed the bill the morning after it arrived on his desk.

The state House of Representatives voted 156-1 on Wednesday and the Senate, 38-0, on Thursday to repeal the tax, which imposed the 6.25 percent sales tax on certain computer and software services.

Critics said the tax was too broad and confusing and would apply to virtually any business that upgraded software. Legislators said the tax was more sweeping than they intended.

Patrick had proposed a version of the tax in January.

As early as Wednesday, Patrick said legislators would be responsible to deal with a budget gap created by the repeal of the tax. Legislators estimated the tax would raise about $160 million.

Legislators have said they could tap existing revenues, saying tax collections are about $140 million above projections for the first two months of the fiscal year.

Total assets at Sept. 30, 2013 were $133.1 million compared with $110.9 million at Dec. 31, 2012, which is an increase of $22.2 million or 20 percent.

SPRINGFIELD — Nuvo Bank & Trust Co. announced net income of $2.26 million, or 96 cents per share, for the nine months ended Sept. 30, compared with $514,000, or 28 cents per share, for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2012.

Net income was $100,000, or 4 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2013, compared with $207,000, or 11 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2012.

The $107,000 decrease in net income from $207,000 for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2012 to $100,000 for third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2013 primarily reflects the fact that the bank was fully taxable in the third quarter of 2013 with a tax provision of $67,000, while in the third quarter 2012 the bank recognized a tax benefit of $53,000 when it was able to utilize a portion of its deferred tax benefit for federal tax purposes, according to a news release.

Total assets at Sept. 30, 2013, were $133.1 million, compared with $110.9 million at Dec. 31, 2012, which is an increase of $22.2 million or 20 percent.

Total loans increased $14.9 million or 15.4 percent to $111.6 million at Sept. 30, 2013, from $96.7 million at Dec, 31, 2012.

Deposits increased $14.2 million or 14.3 percent to $114 million at Sept. 30, from $99.8 million at Dec. 31, 2012. Total borrowings increased to $4.0 million at Sept. 30, 2013, from $2.0 million at Dec. 31, 2012.

Nuvo Bank & Trust Co,, a Massachusetts chartered trust company, is a full-service, independent community bank headquartered in Springfield. It received its charter on April 24, 2008, and opened the doors at its present location in Tower Square on Nov. 3, 2008.